News Release

IPFW Hosts “Take Back the Night” Walk, Speak Out, and Vigil

Key Info

Take Back the Night: Shatter the Silence–Stop the Violence

Wednesday, April 24, 6:30 to 9 p.m.

Events begin outside Liberal Arts Building

Free and open to the public

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) is hosting the annual “Take Back the Night” event Wednesday, April 24, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on campus. The event includes a “speak out,” during which survivors of sexual assault can share their stories, and a candlelight vigil to support the national program of ending violence toward women. The evening includes a half-mile walk around campus, beginning at the Liberal Arts Building, where Elka Jackson, the featured speaker, will present “Taking Back the Night: A Call to Action for Men.”

Jackson is a member of the staff at the Center for Nonviolence in Fort Wayne and is an Indiana Commission Against Domestic Violence (ICADV)-certified facilitator, batterer interventionist, and anti-violence educator. She holds a B.A. in English and Sociology, a B.S. in Secondary Education, and an M.A. in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Critical Literacy Studies, Composition, and Rhetoric. Prior to joining The Center for Nonviolence (CFN) in 2010, she taught in the Fort Wayne Community Schools system. She is the recipient of several awards, including a National Writing Project Fellowship and the Center for Civic Education Fellowship for Teachers. She is very active on behalf of peace-justice issues and LGBTQI rights, and has served on the United Way inclusiveness cabinet, the United Way standards review team, the It Is Well with My Soul program planning team, and the board of the Three Rivers Institute of Afrikan Art and Culture.

“Take Back the Night” is free and open to the public. Participants will receive a free t-shirt and pizza at the conclusion of the walk.

“Take Back the Night” is sponsored by Campus Feminists in Solidarity, the Indiana–Purdue Student Government Association, and the IPFW Women’s Studies Program.

For more information, contact Janet Badia, director of the IPFW Women’s Studies Program, at 260-481-6711 or badiaj@ipfw.edu.